This invention relates generally to a shopping cart or display accessory and more particularly to a shopping cart accessory for removable attachment to either wire or plastic shopping carts, store displays or other structures having a wall portion to which the accessory can be removably attached.
Typically, a shopping list of desired items is prepared in anticipation of a shopping trip. While at a store or stores a shopper is provided with a shopping cart. Substantially all of the shopping carts provided by stores are either metal wire or plastic carts. A metal wire cart is typically constructed with round metal wire in a system of vertical wires and one or more horizontal wires. An upper carrying portion is supported by a lower framework usually mounted on casters. A plastic cart is typically constructed with a plastic basket supported by a lower framework which is also usually mounted on casters. The construction of both types of shopping carts is well known.
While in a store the previously prepared shopping list is referred to often by the shopper. A convenient place is typically found on which to rest the shopping list for easy and quick reference as the shopper proceeds through the store. As the shopping cart is filled with items to be purchased it is often the case that the list must be moved about. Very often a sheet of paper on which the list is written will blow out of the shopping cart or down into the items already in the cart. A shopper with a better memory than most might keep a shopping list in a pocket only to be referred to occasionally, but for the rest of us the shopping list must be handy for quick reference. What is desired is a convenient accessory that will hold a shopping list securely for easy reference. The accessory should also leave the shopper's hands free. Ideally, the accessory would be removably attachable to the shopping cart and easily transportable by the shopper between home and the store.
Others have attempted to provide a solution to these and other problems. U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,134 refers to a Grocery Cart Clip Attachment comprising a clip adapted to be removably applied to the side of the grocery cart. U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,539 refers to an Attachment for Shopping Cart for use on a shopping cart with a collapsible infant seat which is used in part to support the attachment in an upright and generally horizontal position. U.S. Pat. No. 2,888,761 refers to a Directory and Clip Board Combination designed for attachment to a shopping cart to serve as a support for the user's papers and as a display panel for a store directory or other printed matter provided by the merchant. U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,204 refers to a Clip Board for a Shopping Cart for attachment to a cart for holding grocery lists. U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,291 refers to a Shopping Cart Shelf Assembly dimensioned and adapted for attachment to a conventional shopping cart. U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,318 refers to an Attachment for a Shopping Cart providing a substantially flat and stable writing surface for the shopper, for use on a supermarket shopping cart of the type having a collapsible infant seat pivotally connected to its rear wall. U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,567 refers to a Shopping Cart Organizer for use on a shopping cart of the type having a transversely extending handle and a forwardly spaced-apart transversely extending rod, the organizer including a substantially flat desk panel provided with clip means on an outer surface for securement of a note pad or similar writing material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,888 refers to a Store Cart with Clipboard Item-Retention Means including a store cart with a clipboard fixed thereto for retaining items such as discount coupons or shopping lists used in the store and the support of the clipboard is by a loose but positive connection to the cart handle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,134 refers to a Portable Worktable for use with a shopping cart and includes a flat table member supportable by the sides of the cart and positionable to substantially cover the open top of the cart and a plurality of legs for removably retaining the table member on the cart. U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,753 refers to a Desk Attachment for Shopping Cart directed to a desk apparatus attachable to a shopping cart for providing a stable surface supported at an angle convenient for viewing or writing by the shopper. A West German Patent, No. 2716938, appears to refer to a calculator support attachable to a grocery cart.
The shopping cart accessory of the present invention solves these and other problems in a manner not disclosed in the known prior art.